Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Asked to Resign
On Friday, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, stepped down and was replaced by his deputy. Murthy, a holdover from the Obama administration, was asked to resign by the Trump administration, reported The New York Times. Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, who served as Murthy’s deputy, is now the acting surgeon general. During his time as surgeon general, Murthy drew attention to gun violence, addressed the rising incidence in addiction to opioids and other substances, and also focused on improving disease prevention.
House Won’t Rush Healthcare Vote
While the White House had been pushing for a vote on a healthcare bill this week, right around President Donald Trump’s 100-day mark, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, indicated that wasn’t likely. According to Politico, Ryan is focusing on avoiding a government shutdown first and foremost and has not promised a new timeline for a vote on the amended healthcare bill. Lawmakers have just 4 days to pass a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown when funding expires on Friday.
Testing an Alzheimer’s Drug in Those Without Disease
Novartis is taking a different approach to testing its 2 new Alzheimer’s drugs. The company is testing the drugs in people who don’t have the disease but whose genes put them at high risk for developing it, according to The Wall Street Journal. So far no drugs have successfully delayed the progression of Alzheimer’s, so Novartis is hoping to treat early before the disease takes hold. However, recruiting participants is tough, because even though someone has a gene putting them at risk of Alzheimer’s doesn’t mean they’ll ever develop the disease.
NK Cell Therapy SNK01 Improves Cognitive Function in Alzheimer Disease for up to 11 Weeks
December 3rd 2023Among 10 patients evaluated, compared with their baseline at 1 week after receiving their final dose in the trial, 30% demonstrated clinical improvement on the Alzheimer’s disease composite score.
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Consumers should not eat precut cantaloupe if they do not know the source, as the number of illnesses and recalls tied to a deadly salmonella outbreak grows; the White House and the Department of Education urged schools to take proactive steps to prevent youth drug use; a study published this week found a high prevalence of arrhythmia in patients with long COVID.
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Understanding the Unmet Need for Therapies to Treat Rare Bile Duct Cancer
May 24th 2022On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we bring you an excerpt of an interview with a co-chair of the 2022 Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation (CCF) annual conference, held earlier this year, about the significant unmet therapy needs facing most patients with this rare cancer.
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Bimekizumab-bkzx, the Newest Psoriasis Treatment, Is Now Available
November 30th 2023Bimekizumab-bkzx (Bimzelx) is the first dual interleukin 17A (IL-17A) and interleukin 17F (IL-17F) inhibitor to treat moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. It launches with a list price of $7200 per syringe.
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